This invention relates to the art of improving octane rating of premium gasolines by providing a novel process for concurrently preparing two octane-enhancing blending components. The first product, alkylate, is prepared by the addition of an olefin to an isoparaffin. The second product, an alkyl tertiary-alkyl ether is prepared by reacting a primary alcohol with an olefin having a double bond on a tertiary carbon atom. This process allows refinery streams of relatively low value to be reacted to form two valuable blending components for premium gasoline. In industry practice an olefin having two to five carbon atoms would be reacted with isobutane in the presence of an acidic catalyst to produce the higher molecular weight alkylate product.
Recent safety and environmental concerns regarding the handling of hydrofluoric acid have prompted the industry to explore heterogeneous alkylation alternatives for replacing strong acid (e.g. HF) alkylation units. One drawback of the heterogeneous alkylation process is the requirement of frequent reactivations of the aged zeolite catalyst. Laboratory reactivation of the aged zeolite catalyst requires a polar solvent (e.g. methanol) extraction followed by a hydrocarbon extraction.